Hot Wheels Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Custom Repaint

Still on a Japanese car kick! I was tired of seeing all these crazy paint jobs, so I'm taking some more popular Japanese HW castings and making them a bit more stock looking. I'm particularly pleased with how this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X turned out!

Lesney #24c - Rolls Royce Silver Shadow

Tonight's finished restoration is a #24c Rolle Royce transitional. I was lacking this variation, so per one of my "customizing regs", it got a stock restoration. I'm not completely happy with how it turned out, the trunk lid doesn't fit properly, and the paint has some bubbles in it. I'm not happy with the bleed-through on the wheels either. But it will display nicely! Love the original green baseplate as well.

After:

Some other Rollers in my collection:

Tan Silver Shadow Restoration

Blue Silver Cloud Restoration

Silver Cloud Custom

Maisto Porsche 356A Coupe - Detail and Wheel Swap

The Porsche 356 is one of history's all time greats. Great styling, a perky little air cooled engine, and fantastic competition history make for a perfect classic. I always made fun of the guys that, back in the day, thought the end times were near when the 356 was replaced by the new-fangled 911.. But having spent some time around the old bathtub Porsches, I can certainly see why one would think that way.. I'd have a hard time buying a 911 knowing that the 356 is out there...

The 356 is a car that has been sadly under-represented in small scale diecast. I have a Brumm 1/43 model, the Maisto 1/24th replica of the original 356, and a very well-worn Bburago 1/18 356 Cabriolet. That Bburago is very special to me, as it was the first diecast car I ever received as a kid.

I've wished for a long time that Matchbox would do a 356. I've heard rumors for a while that Hot Wheels is doing one, but I haven't seen it yet. So I picked up this Maisto at the Dollar Tree recently.. Nice casting, but no interior, ugly wheels, and lack of tampo detailing left a lot to be desired.

So I decided to do it up a bit... Some Matchbox wheels, and a bit of silver sharpie detailing is all I did here, but wow did it transform this car!! Now I'm hoping to find more of these cars to play with :)

Lesney #14d-Iso Grifo Coupe Restoration

How about a sexy little Italian? A car, that is, haha.
One of everybody's favorite Lesney castings, the good ol Iso Grifo. I have an entire drawer full of parts for these, and decided to put a regular wheel version together. Google images pulled up a lovely image of a dark metallic red one, so I replicated that. The brown interior looks like, but I'm wishing now that I'd gone for a lighter tan.. What do you think?

Most of my Lesneys are packed up in preparation for moving, so I can't do any "family photos", but here are the other 14d's in my collection..

Oh, and here is the "drawer-full"

Matchbox Vauxhall Astra GTE Restoration

Good afternoon everyone, today I want to share with you a custom that has taken me ages to finish. I kept having paint problems with it, had to strip and repaint it three times I believe.

I came across this poor old Vauxhall in the "local" junkyard, and thought it looked worth saving. So I loaded it up on my trailer and took it back to the workshop!

Here's what I found when I got it back to the workshop and had a closer look:

And after a few weeks, and a new paint job, interior, and wheels, here she is!